


Journey

by grimorie



Category: Life (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-27
Updated: 2010-12-27
Packaged: 2017-10-14 03:49:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/145021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grimorie/pseuds/grimorie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU Fusion with Life.</p><p>How do you return to a shattered life?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Journey

**Author's Note:**

> This is a 'what if' and a fusion story. This is a story with the Glee characters inhibiting the Life-verse. A seriously crack-y 'what if' story. I'm also unsure if this story will ever lead to anything so: Caveat Lector.
> 
> Also, I do not in any way shape or form own the characters and the universe they're playing in.

“ _We all thought she was guilty._ ”

Brittany stared up at the sun, mesmerized.  She didn’t mean to but she arrived on scene early and her new partner wasn’t around, probably still contending with the LA traffic downtown but the other cops were already on scene.

It was a mistake, she realized, to arrive here early without her partner.

The uniforms took to glancing at her direction and making bets they thought she didn’t hear. She didn’t mind the bets, it was the staring that was making her skin itch. Brittany put on her sunglasses and moved away, wandering up the hill to wait for her new partner. 

Looking up to stare at the sun was accidental. But there it was warming her and she looked up and it was bright and big and _there_. Logically, Brittany knew it was the same sun shining down on her the past few years but somehow it looked more vibrant and brighter out here than it ever was on the inside. Brittany contemplated why that was almost missing the voice calling for her, but the voice was insistent and… it wasn't exactly loud but the voice reached Brittany pulling her from her thoughts and away from the sun. 

“—Pierce,” The voice belonged to a woman shorter than she was. She wore a frown her dark glasses barely hid. “You are Detective Pierce, aren’t you?”

It took a few seconds for Brittany to adjust from staring at the sun and looking at this woman. It also took a few more seconds to register what she called Brittany: not by a number or 'Officer' but ‘Detective’. “I guess I am.”

“Would you like to be sure?” The woman asked and her sarcasm was clear not only from her tone but in the way she moved her head. “‘Cause we’re about to go into a crime scene.” 

There was a black and white squad car behind the woman and just beyond the black and white was a yellow tape to keep curious onlookers at bay. She returned her gaze back at the woman and realized she should say something, “I’m sure.”

“Great.” The woman turned and began walking away at a steady pace. Brittany removed her glasses and followed, she found herself sprinting slightly to catch up. The woman's voice was familiar, it was the same voice that directed Brittany to the crime scene when she woke up to a disturbingly small ringing phone. There was only one person this woman could be.

“Are you Lopez?” Brittany asked once she caught up, just to be sure. It would be embarrassing if she started calling the detective 'partner' and it turned out she wasn't Brittany's partner.

“ _Detective_ Lopez,” came the swift reply. 

Brittany nodded at the correction. They passed the black and white but not before Brittany noted the look the uniform gave her as she walked by. It was a look she saw a lot since she returned to the force. The Force with a capital ‘F’, it made her think of the Jedi only without light sabers and cool space ships but they did have car chases. The Jedi and car chases might be one of the reasons why she wanted to become a cop in the first place. She didn’t really remember. She did remember Matt teasing her about it once. 

She felt the beginnings of a frown. She should have kept her glasses on because other cops might think weird, stupid things about her frown. She’d been exonerated by the court and she even had a shiny settlement to show for it but the cops still looked at her as if she was three steps away from going crazy and thinking about Matt always made her frown. 

Beside her Lopez stopped shy of the yellow tape and Brittany stopped as well. Lopez looked at her. “There’s a kid in there,” she began. “It’s your first day back. If you don’t think you can handle it I can do it myself.”

Brittany stared down at Lopez, surprised to hear concern in Lopez’s voice. She suspected Lopez's offer was also part ‘You’ve been out of the field for years and I don’t want you to screw up my crime scene.’ But the concern was real.

It’s been thirteen years since she last stepped inside a crime scene. Thirteen years was a long time despite the refresher courses and the murder farm. The sheer amount of time made Brittany pause and nod. It was all the signal Lopez needed. She brought up the yellow tape, went under it and to the grassy area where the vic would be. A kid. 

A kid just like Matt’s kid. And here she was outside standing like a coward because she couldn’t take catching a kid's murder after a few years off the field.

Brittany took a deep breath and followed Lopez in. There was dog lazing nearby, hidden by the tall grass. She frowned at it but Lopez didn't seem to notice the dog, attention caught by the small body on the grass.

Brittany didn't look at the body, not at first. She scanned the area looking for the ME but the medical examiner was nowhere to be found, probably still fighting with the traffic. Judging from the way Lopez studied the small body on the grass, she didn't seem inclined to wait for the ME to arrive. Lopez's shoulder rose and fell.

It was then Brittany realized she was not the only one who found this case unsettling.

"Small caliber, close range," Lopez announced. "Probably not a lot of noise." 

"No one reported hearing anything," reported the uniform. His tag read 'Zerco'. 

"The bullet was a through and through." Lopez pointed out.

Brittany looked around the scene, Lopez was intent on the kid and the two uniforms just stood there. Stood there when a kid was dead while a dog lazed on the grass a few meters away.  “That the kid’s dog?”

“Yeah,” the tag on his uniform read ‘Krebbs’, “he won’t move.” 

“Did you find the slug?” Lopez asked. If she seemed confused at Brittany's presence in the crime scene she didn't let it show. She took it in stride that Brittany was here working the Job despite Brittany conceding that catching a kid on her first day back was overwhelming.

“No, ma’am.” 

“Did you look for it?” Brittany asked, staring at the dog.

“Yes, Detective, we looked for it.” Officer Zerco replied. He sounded angry.  

Brittany ignored the tone of his voice and tilted her head. “Did you ask the dog?”

“Did we ask the dog?” Crebbs repeated, as if he was sounding it out.

“No, we did not ask the dog.” Zerco replied and yeah, that was contempt in his voice.

“No, sir, we did not ask the dog,” Crebbs said, this time a hint of humor in his voice, except Brittany was sure he was laughing at her and not with her. 

Brittany walked to the dog and knelt down before it, murmuring to reassure she won’t hurt it. A shadow loomed over her and saw Lopez looking at her but this time she seemed confused. 

The dog whined as Brittany felt something under the dog’s skin. The kid on the grass, the dog just a few feet away, it could only mean one thing. “There’s a bullet here beneath the skin.”

“The dog must’ve caught the bullet in the gut after it exited the kid.” Lopez said, picking up the thread. Brittany won’t know this until much later, until they’ve been partnered for months with fruits and numerous car rides between them that this would be the pattern of their partnership. But that’s not what Brittany was thinking then, preoccupied with the dog and struck with its loyalty and how far away the dog was from its master. 

“Why are you way over here?” She murmured, “Did you bring something over?” Brittany pulled her knife from her belt, the blade springing to action.

“Detective Pierce,” She heard Lopez’s cautioning voice but Brittany decided to ignore it, intent on figuring out the puzzle. Brittany pulled back her arm to stab—

“Detective Pierce!

Her knife bit into the ground and dug out the flesh she glimpsed hidden beneath the dog. 

“Hold on,” Zerco walked over with an evidence bag. “Is that a—

“Finger?” Krebbs finished for his partner. 

It was a finger. Brittany balanced the finger on her knife before dropping it on the evidence bag.

She caught the perplexed expression on Lopez’s face, she closed the knife and stood next to Lopez. “The dog must have took the bullet from the kid and took the shooter’s finger off.” That was loyalty. Taking a bullet for its master, never leaving the master and taking a piece from the shooter. That was love. It was more than what she had thirteen years ago. Brittany turned to look at Lopez, curious. “Anyone ever loved you that much?” 

Lopez turned her head sharply and Brittany could see the ‘what the fuck?’ question written on her face.

For the first time since she got out and received her Detective’s badge Brittany grinned.  


End file.
